VAT Tax Alerts – amavat®http://amavat.eu
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 13:29:55 +0000en-UShourly1Hungary has introduced a VAT cut for internet accesshttp://amavat.eu/hungary-introduced-vat-cut-internet-access/
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 07:47:10 +0000http://amavat.eu/?p=23287Hungary has confirmed the plans to cut the value-added tax rate on internet access services to 5%. This move comes notwithstanding the fact that the measure could be in breach of EU law, as such services are not included in Annex III of the EU VAT Directive, which sets out a preventive list of those...

]]>Hungary has confirmed the plans to cut the value-added tax rate on internet access services to 5%.

This move comes notwithstanding the fact that the measure could be in breach of EU law, as such services are not included in Annex III of the EU VAT Directive, which sets out a preventive list of those goods and services that may be subject to a VAT reduced rate.

Hungary’s change to the value-added tax regime in this respect was announced in Hungary’s 2017 Budget, in which Hungary declared that it would cut the VAT rate on such services from 27% to 18%. Despite unofficial calls from the EU tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici for Hungary to hold off on the changes, the country has continued irrespective. Simultaneously it has pushed for the inclusion of internet access services to be included in Annex III of the EU VAT Directive, as part of the Commission’s ongoing proposal to allow a reduced rate of VAT for certain digital supplies such as for eBooks.

This funding in order to boost internet adoption will cost the government an estimated €70mln per annum.

amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks their language and handles all VAT related issues with a standard and cost efficient approach.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact amavat®.

]]>Bulgaria increases there Intrastat Reporting Threshold in 2018http://amavat.eu/bulgaria-increases-intrastat-reporting-threshold-2018/
Thu, 08 Feb 2018 11:28:23 +0000http://amavat.eu/?p=23254Bulgaria as of the 1st January, 2018 increased the ‘Intrastat Reporting Thresholds’ for both arrivals and dispatches. Arrivals threshold will be greater than before, increasing from BGN 410,000.00 to BGN 430,000.00 (approximately €220,000.00), with dispatches threshold being increased from BGN 240,000.00 to BGN 260,000.00 (approximately €133,000.00). Additionally, the statistical thresholds will also be raised. This...

]]>Bulgaria as of the 1st January, 2018 increased the ‘Intrastat Reporting Thresholds’ for both arrivals and dispatches.

Arrivals threshold will be greater than before, increasing from BGN 410,000.00 to BGN 430,000.00 (approximately €220,000.00), with dispatches threshold being increased from BGN 240,000.00 to BGN 260,000.00 (approximately €133,000.00).

Additionally, the statistical thresholds will also be raised. This threshold involves more detailed information when arranging your Intrastat returns. The new statistical Intrastat thresholds as from January 2018 in Bulgaria will be BGN 6,300,000.00 (approximately €3,221,000.00) for arrivals and dispatches will be BGN 12,800,000.00 (circa €6,544,000.00).

This new measure will withdraw the reductions made for the year 2017.

Intrastat threshold

Statistical threshold

Arrivals

Dispatches

Arrivals

Dispatches

Current threshold – 2017

BGN 410,000

BGN 240,000

BGN 5,600,000

BGN 11,700,000

Applicable thresholds as from 1 January 2018

BGN 430,000

BGN 260,000

BGN 6,300,000

BGN 12,800,000

Intrastat measures the movement of goods for statistical reasons between EU countries, as well as both the dispatch of the goods to another EU Member State and the arrival of the goods from another EU Member State.

In Bulgaria, the thresholds for proclaiming the Intrastat return are defined by the National Statistical Institute by the end of October of the current year and are binding for the entire subsequent year.

The responsibility to submit Intrastat returns in this country arises when during a year the taxable person exceeds the threshold established for each flow. For example, if in 2018 your IC-Acquisitions exceed BGN 430,000.00, you will merely submit the Intrastat return for arrivals. Intrastat for the dispatches will not be necessary until the threshold is surpassed. Once the company is accountable for submitting Intrastat returns, the form needs to be filed until a January-to-December period has been completed under the applicable threshold, even if there are no transactions to be reported for the period concerned.

amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks their language and handles all VAT related issues with a standard and cost efficient approach.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact amavat®.

]]>Portugal’s February Tax Dateshttp://amavat.eu/portugals-january-tax-dates/
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 14:35:05 +0000http://amavat.eu/?p=23142Conceito our Portuguese amavat® Partner Firm has put together an English document with generic* information regarding Portugal’s ‘Tax Calendar’ for February 2018. (also available in Portuguese below) Click here for English version Click here for Portuguese version *might not be applicable to your organisation amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We...

]]>Conceito our Portuguese amavat® Partner Firm has put together an English document with generic* information regarding Portugal’s ‘Tax Calendar’ for February 2018.
(also available in Portuguese below)

amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks their language and handles all VAT related issues with a standard and cost efficient approach.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact amavat®.

]]>
The EU Council issues its VAT priorities for 2018http://amavat.eu/eu-council-issues-vat-priorities-2018/
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 11:01:54 +0000http://amavat.eu/?p=23115The Presidency of the Council of the EU, which is held in Bulgaria for the first half of 2018, has issued its priorities for indirect tax. These comprise of: Implementing the Norwegian agreement on administrative co-operation on VAT; Approving a long-term minimum standard VAT rate for all Member States; Settlement on the four simplifications for...

Ongoing debate on freeing of control on setting reduced VAT rates by Member States;

amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks their language and handles all VAT related issues with a standard and cost efficient approach.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact amavat®.

]]>There will be tax cuts, not tax hikes for Germany’s new coalition governmenthttp://amavat.eu/will-tax-cuts-not-tax-hikes-germanys-new-coalition-government-uk/
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 09:51:07 +0000http://amavat.eu/?p=22932Germany’s three political parties set to form the next governing coalition have agreed to decrease the solidarity tax burden, according to the text of the recently released agreement. This solidarity tax is a 5.5% surtax on both corporate and individual income which is used to fund economic development in the east of Germany. The three...

]]>Germany’s three political parties set to form the next governing coalition have agreed to decrease the solidarity tax burden, according to the text of the recently released agreement.

This solidarity tax is a 5.5% surtax on both corporate and individual income which is used to fund economic development in the east of Germany. The three parties of the Christian Democrat Union, the Social Democrat Party, and the Free Democrat Party have agreed that the incoming government would reduce the tax for those on low and middle incomes, as a first step towards progressively abolishing it.

The coalition settlement pledges not to increase tax on German taxpayers, but has a strong importance on tackling tax evasion and on co-operating with other jurisdictions to ensure the appropriate alignment of tax and corporate profits, particularly with regards to the digital economy.

“We support just taxation of large corporations, especially the internet companies Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon,” this document advises.

The arrangement also declares the new coalition’s support for the anticipated European Union common corporate tax base, and for a “substantial” financial transactions tax at EU level.

amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks their language and handles all VAT related issues with a standard and cost efficient approach.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact amavat®.

]]>Belgium adopts the ECJ’s position on unfinished invoiceshttp://amavat.eu/belgium-adopts-ecjs-position-unfinished-invoices/
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 09:08:14 +0000http://amavat.eu/?p=22803Belgium has implemented the recent ECJ jurisprudence regarding the right to subtract VAT on invoices with missing details. On the 12th October, 2017 the authorities published a circular letter 2017/c/64 summarising their clarification of recent ECJ decisions concerning the conditions under which a taxable person may exercise their right to subtract VAT in cases of...

]]>Belgium has implemented the recent ECJ jurisprudence regarding the right to subtract VAT on invoices with missing details.

On the 12th October, 2017 the authorities published a circular letter 2017/c/64 summarising their clarification of recent ECJ decisions concerning the conditions under which a taxable person may exercise their right to subtract VAT in cases of irregular invoices.

Created on this circular, Belgian Tax Authorities have relaxed their position on invoice requirements by stating that, in cases of non-compliant invoices, the tax administration require to perform a case-by-case analysis taking into account the subsequent aspects:

If the substantive requirements that give the right to subtract have been met;

If credit notes have been supplied to correct the irregular invoices; and

The analysis of supplementary documents related to the invoice, such as contracts, order forms, emails, etc.

During the audit, all additional information requires to be submitted by complying with the format and periods established by the authorities. Similarly, the right to subtract VAT can be denied if the authorities consider that the taxpayer knew or should have known that a transaction was subject to fraud.

ECJ jurisprudence on this topic

The recent ECJ position about this topic states that the right of deduction must be allowed when VAT is paid in the course of economic activities, as long as the essential requirements have been met. Hence taxpayers may exercise their right to subtract VAT, even if the invoices do not meet certain formal requirements. See ECJ cases listed below:

Barlis Case C-516/14

Pannon Case C-368/09

Petroma Transports Case C-271/12

Senatex GmbH Case C-518/14

Specifically, these judgements state that Tax Authorities cannot refuse the right to deduct only because some of the invoice requirements are not met when these authorities have sufficient information to ascertain that the substantive conditions to exercise the right to deduct were satisfied. Consequently, the authorities cannot limit themselves to examining the invoice itself, but require to also analyse the supplementary information provided by the taxpayer.

Additionally, these judgements also emphasised the value of the credit notes by recognising its retroactive effect when they are used to correct invoices with missing details.

amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks their language and handles all VAT related issues with a standard and cost efficient approach.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact amavat®.

]]>Luxembourg collects unpaid taxes from recent tax amnestyhttp://amavat.eu/luxembourg-collects-unpaid-taxes-recent-tax-amnesty/
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 09:16:38 +0000http://amavat.eu/?p=22607Luxembourg has collected over EUR30mln (approx. $36.7mln) in unpaid taxes in 2016 as a result of a tax amnesty scheme, Finance Minister Mr Pierre Gramegna has told parliament. Reacting to a parliamentary question, Mr Gramegna exposed that 221 applications were filed under the amnesty scheme in 2016, with a further 68 submitted between the months...

]]>Luxembourg has collected over EUR30mln (approx. $36.7mln) in unpaid taxes in 2016 as a result of a tax amnesty scheme, Finance Minister Mr Pierre Gramegna has told parliament.

Reacting to a parliamentary question, Mr Gramegna exposed that 221 applications were filed under the amnesty scheme in 2016, with a further 68 submitted between the months of January to September 2017.

Mr Gramegna explained that basic amount of unpaid tax received by the tax authority before a 10% fine was applied was EUR30.6mln in 2016. Just under EUR5.7mln was collected under the scheme for the 9 months to the end of September 2017, a figure which doesn’t include that year’s 20% fine.

The 2-year amnesty was launched on the 1st January, 2016, and required applicants to repay the unpaid tax, in addition to a penalty, which rose from 10% of the overdue amount to 20% in 2017.

amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks their language and handles all VAT related issues with a standard and cost efficient approach.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact amavat®.

]]>Spain announced 4% transfer tax on P2P internet saleshttp://amavat.eu/spain-announced-4-transfer-tax-p2p-internet-sales/
Tue, 30 Jan 2018 10:51:11 +0000http://amavat.eu/?p=22333Spain has prolonged its ‘Impuesto de Transmisiones Partrimoniales’ (ITP) transfer tax to the sale by consumers of second-hand goods on the internet. If consumers are not VAT registered, then the 4% withholding tax relates. amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks...

]]>Spain has prolonged its ‘Impuesto de Transmisiones Partrimoniales’ (ITP) transfer tax to the sale by consumers of second-hand goods on the internet.

If consumers are not VAT registered, then the 4% withholding tax relates.

amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks their language and handles all VAT related issues with a standard and cost efficient approach.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact amavat®.

]]>Hungarian ‘live VAT invoice reporting’ will commence July 2018http://amavat.eu/hungarian-live-vat-invoice-reporting-will-commence-july-2018/
Tue, 30 Jan 2018 10:04:57 +0000http://amavat.eu/?p=22288Hungary advised recently that ‘live VAT invoice reporting’ will proceed from the 1st July, 2018. The requirements relate to VAT invoices above HUF100,000.00. The timing of reporting has been tightened up since the last update, and the choice to report within 24 hours of the issuance of any invoice has been removed. Submissions should therefore...

The requirements relate to VAT invoices above HUF100,000.00. The timing of reporting has been tightened up since the last update, and the choice to report within 24 hours of the issuance of any invoice has been removed. Submissions should therefore be real-time.

The Hungarian tax office has issued details of the invoice schema for eReporting, but the test site for software developers is still not live.

amavat® provides a one-stop-shop solution for VAT Compliance within Europe. We assist clients with a single point of contact that speaks their language and handles all VAT related issues with a standard and cost efficient approach.

If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact amavat®.